


Little Talks

by WanderingWanda



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-03-20
Packaged: 2018-05-18 02:03:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5893912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingWanda/pseuds/WanderingWanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of stories too short to be published separately, about two teenagers whose life would drastically improve if they could just talk.</p>
<p>First story: Chat Noir has found a villain worthy of him, and Marinette has a lot of feelings.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. House of Cards

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I'm back (kinda). I don't really know what to think about this one, mostly because it had even less reactions than my French one-shot on Tumblr. Maybe you will like it better, who knows.  
> More will follow... Eventually.  
> For a prompt : "As Joan of Arc once said, ‘I am not afraid. I was born to do this’"  
> French being my first language, there are probably some mistakes here and there, I apologize!  
> Bonne lecture !

“You’re sure you can handle this?”

Chat Noir makes a dismissive gesture with his gloved hand, a sly grin on his face. Marinette wants to roll her eyes, but she has to be the adult here, since Chat Noir obviously lacks some maturity.

( _She knows it’s not true, that he can be quite serious, but it’s easier to pretend otherwise, to feel annoyed rather than amused_.)

They are hidden behind a tree as if they were up to no good, like two partners in crime. The word “partners” has a different taste on Marinette’s tongue, now. It’s sweet, full of expectations, and has an emotional connotation that she’d tried to avoid for so long. Everything remains the same; they fight side by side, banter and bicker. Everything is different; their eyes linger on each other when they think they won’t be caught, their embraces last longer when she tucks her head under his chin and smells his surprisingly floral scent, giving a glimpse of a future too bright for Marinette’s eyes. She wants to bury the box which she has opened without even noticing. Perhaps it was never closed to begin with. Ladybug is a strong willed superhero who regularly saves the day, but Marinette Cheng is a girl with a heart too big for her own good, and a taste for difficult crushes ( _loves_ ).

Behind them, a crowd of unfortunate pedestrians is roaring with laughter under the burning sun of the afternoon. Marinette finds this sound too hysterical, too sinister. She focuses on that and pushes her confusing thoughts about her masked partner somewhere inside her brain. There’s not much she can do. The akumatized person is surrounded by the crowd (his “public”, the only one he can have), a frontal attack would be too risky. They have to free the pedestrians from his influence before even thinking about fighting against the lousy humorist who is now abnormally hilarious.

“I guess it’s your time to shine, Chat.”

Their faces are way too close. She can feel is hot breath tickle her nose, she can clearly see the patterns on his mask. She has the absurd sudden impulse to ruff his already messy golden hair, as if he truly were a cat. ( _She does not act on it, does not even move. She stops breathing, maybe even thinking_.) His expression is now solemn, but his peculiar eyes still sparkle in a way that makes her heart beat faster.

“As Joan of Arc once said, ‘I am not afraid. I was born to do this’.”

And as he runs toward the troublemaker, yelling “ _Pawdon me, but do you know what does a cat do when it gets mad? It has a hissy fit_ !”, Marinette feels the walls encircling her suddenly crumble, like a mere house of cards, destroyed by a simple smile, a silly joke, a mesmerizing look. She can’t win a war she has already lost; she has no weapons against the man whose sheer existence is enough to defeat her resolution.

And as she runs toward the breathless people who have been freed of the villain’s hold by Chat’s lame puns (“It’s the cat’s pajamas”, he will proudly say afterwards, during their traditional fist bump), Marinette decides to accept her fate: being in love with two people at the same time is tiring, complicated, and sometimes excruciating, but damn, she has no way to fight back. She only wishes to always find a way to keep her head out of the water, even though she only wishes to drown.


	2. Balance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second OS for this collection. I tried something new, I kinda like the feeling it gives.

You think this is the best day of your life.  
The wind is playing gently with her dark hair, which you see her wearing it down for the first time in months. Her laugh is enough to fill your lungs and make your stomach flip. A nice shade of pink has crept on her full cheeks. The best part is that you are the who has made her laugh. You are as much her source of happiness as she is yours.  
Your hands find their way to hers, and she accepts you, squeezes tenderly your fingers, closes her eyes in contentment.   
Your breath caught in your throat, you could stare at her for the rest of your life: her sight is enough to bring you joy, and feeling her warmth makes you smile uncontrollably.   
"So we're really doing this?" She asks slowly, as if not wanting to get her hopes up, after an eternity.  
You remember Plagg telling you matter-of-factly, when you were a lonely and confused teenager, that Chat Noir was a particular hero: endowed with the power of destruction, he usually didn't end up happy. After all, black cats are unlucky, and you thought for an instant that you might be, too. But being Chat Noir has always felt like a blessing to you, an escape, an opportunity to get a new skin, more comfortable. It's thanks to this that you met the woman of your life, who is now looking at you as if you were the sun.  
Blacks cats are unlucky, but you're Chat Noir and you have a ladybug by your side.  
"Yes," you taste the word, feels it melting on your tongue. "You can even move to my place tonight, if you want. Or right now. Wait, did that sound too desperate? Do I need to play cool?"  
She chuckles and ruffles your blond hair. She does that a lot, it looks messy now, like when you're saving Paris. You don't give a damn.   
"Nah, right now's perfect."  
It is.

  
Being a hero comes with a great price. You think you can live with a few scratches, the fear for your life and Marinette's, your mask which seems to always be covering your face when you're with people that you love but cannot inform of your doing. Protecting people is worth it. Chat Noir is worth it.  
But comes a day it is not worth it anymore. Comes a day your nightmares, which you have fought against with all your might, are true.   
Black cats are not unlucky. They bring bad luck to others.  
You thought you could balance each other. A ladybug and a black cat, a neutral force when put together.  
You realize, as you see her falling through the sky, her transformation wearing off, that you were so, so wrong. Her eyes are closed, her hair is down, she looks like a puppet whose strings have been cut. You jump after her, the violent wind grazing your unprotected skin, stretching out your arm, trying to fall faster, so much faster.  
You're not fast enough.   
There is no time for tearjerker goodbyes. The ground, the very same ground you were walking on together, holding hands, a few hours ago, is merciless. Marinette is already gone somewhere you can't reach her.  You grab her hand, but she doesn't squeeze back to let you know that it's okay, you will get through this together, like always. You won't.  
No smiles, no laughs, no pink cheeks. Only red, red, red.  
You can only destroy. She could create, heal. Ladybug was the positive force. The city is burning and you're powerless.  
And everything is red, even your black costume.   
You think this is the worst day of your life. Here again, you're wrong: it's everyday you wake up alone.

**Author's Note:**

> At first, I wanted to write a "pun battle" between Chat and BadyGuyOfTheDay, but it's so hard to find puns in English so yeah, I'm sorry!


End file.
